Frequently Asked Questions

Does Friends-International only work with street children?

Street children are the thermometer of the economic and social situation of a country, posing a significant loss to future advancements of local communities and society as a whole. By entering adulthood without a formal education or vocational skills, street children will have a negative effect on the development of a country. Friends-International initially started working with street children in 1994.
However, when working with street children, Friends-International is often in contact with other and wider groups of children and youth that are connected to street children either by their lifestyle or because of the issues they face.
We work with all these children and young people, who we call marginalized urban children and youth. They include those who are living and working on the streets, using drugs, affected by HIV, migrants, in prison, victims of abuse, domestic violence or poverty, or affected in any other way that prevents them from having their internationally recognized rights as children fulfilled.
In many developing countries, the services provided for marginalized children are insufficient or poorly run. Friends-International addresses this issue by providing immediate assistance to the children and by working with governments and other organizations to improve their services and to find longer-term, sustainable solutions for these children.

What services does FI offer?

We save lives by offering: medical services, emergency accommodation, counseling, drug rehabilitation, access to HIV treatments and protecting children from abuse.

We build futures by offering: education, vocational training, income generation for families, cultural and sporting activities.

Where does FI work?

Friends-International works with 50 000 children and youth every year, in 8 countries across 4 continents. Friends-International has programs in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Indonesia and works with partners in Egypt, Mexico and Honduras. Projects are in development in Myanmar and Hong Kong. The first project started by Friends-International was in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 1994 and is called Mith Samlanh.

What are the biggest problems for these children?

Children across all our programs face similar issues. The most common problems are family dysfunction including violence, alcoholism, drug abuse, lack of care, divorce and remarriages, etc. all of which taking a heavy toll on the most vulnerable members of the families - the children.

The inability of parents to take care of their children often causes the kids to escape - to the streets, to drug use or to the comfort and the belonging of gangs.

Poverty is a recurrent issue that explains why children have to work and stop going to school, and is a major stress on families which can lead to serious dysfunctions. However, poverty is not the only explanation for the distress and marginalization of children.

Why does Friends-International run businesses?

• to provide the best hands-on training possible in a real business setting
• to provide an income to young people and family members who otherwise are unable to support their families
• to make profits that are reinvested into Friends-International’s educational programs and to support the core running costs of the organization.

So, what does Friends do with the money from the restaurants and businesses?

The income we make from the businesses is reinvested into projects so that we can support even more children and families.

While the students are in training, we cover the cost of their education, meals, accommodation, medical expenses and counseling. In 2009, it cost an average of US$162 to support a student for one year.

We also use additional profits to:

• fund projects that are not supported by donors
• cover some of our administration costs, so that donations can go directly to support the children.

If you have businesses, why do you need donations?

While we are working towards being fully self-sustaining, the revenue from our businesses is not yet high enough to cover all the costs of supporting the children andyouth that we work with, and there are still many others who also need our support. Currently Friends-International’s business income amounts to 10 percent of its total global expenditure and we are aiming to be self-funding and able to support our own programs by 2020. So until then, we still need your donations to fill this gap.

If I donate, where does the money go and how much goes on administration costs?

You can choose which project you would like to support on our donations page. It’s entirely up to you!

It would be impossible to run an organization like Friends-International without administration costs. However, we deliberately keep our administration costs to a minimum – less than 10 per cent. Information about our finances is available here.

To make a donation to any of our projects, please click here.

Do the children make any of the products that you sell?

No. At friends our goal is to get kids into school and reach the highest level of education possible while being able to enjoy being children. Young people must be thelegal age in their country for working before they are involved in our training businesses.
Our products are generally made my mothers, in their homes or at our production centers. While they are making these products, we have an agreement with the families that their children must be attending school so they receive an education instead of working. This means that these children and their families can help buildtheir own futures.